Automobile wiring harnesses typically comprise trunks and branches of bundled wires assigned to individual circuits. The bundles of wires terminate at both ends and at branch ends in connectors having multiple internal cavities for receiving terminal devices of either male or female types. A particular connector may, for example, receive and provide terminations for five different sets of wires representing five different circuits and, therefore, having five cavities within the connector which open to the terminal end of the connector; i.e., the outside end of the connector which is coupled to another connector to provide continuity for each of the five circuits. Each connector, therefore, has a “wire end;” i.e., the end into which the wires for the circuits enter, and a “terminal end;” i.e., the outside end of the connector described above.
FIG. 1 is a graphic of a typical wiring harness connector 10 viewed from the terminal end. The connector 10 has cavities 12 arranged and numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 from left to right when viewed from the terminal end. The chart 14 on the right side of FIG. 1 contains information pertaining to the circuits which are represented by the cavities 12 in the connector 10. The left column is the “cavity number,” the next column to the right is the “circuit name,” the next column to the right shows the wire gauge number, the next column to the right shows the color or colors of the wire and the far right column may be a manufacturer code. Both the graphic on the left side of FIG. 1 and the table on the right side of FIG. 1 are typically included on the record which is exchanged between persons dealing with the connector 10. The term “record,” as used herein, may be a drawing, an electronic file or a combination of same.
It is, of course, important that persons participating in the design, installation and/or use of circuits associated with or connected to the harness which includes connector 10 adopt the same protocol with respect to the identification of the cavities 12 and the circuits to be associated therewith. If, for example, one company adopted the numbering convention of FIG. 1 and a second company were to approach the matter by viewing the connector 10 from the wire end, cavity numbers would be reversed even though both companies number the cavities from left to right.
As indicated above, the best known way to avoid this problem currently is to include the graphic in the record. However this adds to the overhead cost of creating, storing and communicating records between persons and/or firms working on a project involving one or more connectors in wiring harnesses and the like.